BUSINESS

A 6.0 magnitude earthquake recently hit the north-central part of Italy which caused the death of at least 6 people and injured at least 50 individuals. The earthquake also caused the collapse of numerous historical architecture sites like castles, clock towers, and churches.

The nightmare of Qantas' aircraft maintenance engineers is about to happen as the flag carrier announces likely on Monday the closure of its maintenance bay at Tullamarine Airport. The shutter would lead to the axing of more than 400 jobs.

Head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, has warned that the consequences of Greece exiting the euro would be "extremely expensive and hard, and not just for Greece."

Gold demand in China expanded to record levels in the first quarter of 2012, with total consumer demand in China surging 10 percent to reach a new high of 255.2 tonnes.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia warned on Monday that Greece's expected exit from the eurozone may cause the Australian dollar to plummet below 90 cents. G8 leaders rushed over the weekend to battle the financial crisis to hit the region over the Greek debt.

A new report shows that Apple has plans to release a 4-inch screen iPhone 5 in order to compete with the latest smartphone from Samsung which is Samsung Galaxy S III.

More changes are taking place in Australia’s embattled retail industry as Centro Retail Australia sold half of its stakes in three premium shopping centres, while Retravision Southern is teetering towards administration.

Holden will hit American roads again after more than 15 years of absence in the region, GM Holden reported on Friday, and the North American incarnation will come in the form of Australia's venerable sedan, the Commodore.

Two major players in the oil and gas exploration industry agree that Australia would be the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by the end of the decade.

The debate between Transport Minister Anthony Albanese and Sydney Airport authorities over the reason behind plane delays continues.

A day after the New South Wales government released strict guidelines in response to a video of a local abattoir that practiced animal abuse, the federal Agriculture Department announced that it fined two Australian cattle exports that used substandard Indonesian slaughterhouses.

What Happens When the World Economy “Goes Japan”

Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry reckons that what's bad for Greece may turn out to be good for Australia. Why? It will make it easier for Australia to finance its current account deficit! Woo hoo!

By Greg PeelThe Dow fell 156 points or 1.2% while the S&P lost 1.5% to 1304 and the Nasdaq dropped 2.1%.

Android in Australia is now growing according to recent survey reports. This means that Google's Android system is now working its way on top of the smartphone war, thus, is it really close to overtaking Apple as the number one smartphone not only in Australia but all over the world?

There is too much milk supply available globally that Dairy Australia warned Aussie farmers to expect a 10 per cent to 15 per cent drop in milk prices in 2013.

The Australian government said on Thursday that issuing much affordable cigarette brands in the market was an act of desperation coming from the British American Tobacco Australia (BATA), which recently unleashed a new brand that sells for only $11.50.

Samsung Galaxy S III was released early in London much to the delight of customers who pre-ordered the latest smartphone recently.

A Macquarie consortium purchased for $4.1 billion the gas grid of German energy firm E.ON. Open Grid Europe runs Germany's biggest gas transmission system and is about 12,000 kilometres long.

Samsung is the king of smartphones for the first quarter of 2012, based on the latest global sales data released on Thursday by Gartner.

St Hilliers Construction, which two months ago won major public housing projects in New South Wales, went into voluntary administration on Wednesday. The move created havoc on the company's building projects in Illawarra, Shoalhaven, Coffs Harbour and Victoria.

Apple will issue a new iPhone version later this year and based on reports that emerged, the hit gadget will come with a bigger screen, ditching the standard screen size that the smartphone has been carrying since its 2007 market debut.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 33 points or 0.3% while the S&P lost 0.4% to 1324 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.

Tech giant Apple, Inc. (NYSE:AAPL) will be introducing its new operating systems and MacBook Pros at this year’s WorldWide Developer’s Conference but iPhone 5 will not be included in the surprises.

Australia belongs to the Apple universe, according to Google, which means more iPhones have been activated in the country than Android-powered smartphones as of the first three months of 2012.

In the last 10 years, Australians have been issuing lesser cheques by over 60 per cent. The Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) said the irreversible decline of the cheque is due to a change in consumer preference for electronic payments systems such as the use of debit and credit cards.

Officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are in Sydney to conduct stress test on ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac.

Consumers were not buoyed by the huge rate cut handed down by the Australian central bank earlier this May despite the slight climb in the current month's reading of Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Confidence.

U.S. auto giant General Motors (GM) reportedly plans to halt its advertising presence on popular social media site Facebook, a move that the carmaker said was part of an ongoing review on its marketing approach and expenditures.